I know that I said I would move away from politics (primarily because the topic is career limiting to say the least – good luck democracy!) but how could I avoid the relentless march into absurdity that encapsulates the mob entrusted to make decisions on our behalf?

The straw that broke this camel’s back is the waste of taxpayer funds to advertise a red herring as obvious as dog’s… um…

Who is he kidding? It will no doubt stir up rage in the average fan of Andrew Bolt, but arguably most Victorian’s get that another toll road is not what the state needs at this point in time.

Actually, it’s not subjective; Victorians knew what they were voting for in the 2014 election; The East West Link (Coalition) or Rail upgrades (Labor). The parties made no secret that this was one of the main contests and the East West Link lost.

Victoria, not just Labor, rejected this toll road.

Building new roads instead of improving public transport is at odds with 21st century urban planning. Our devoting to roads is weird. If we continue to be stuck in traffic, it’s because our Federal government refuses to fund what the people voted for (and again, democracy takes a hit).

To give an example, Eastlink caps a one way trip at $5.84. If you used CityLink to the CBD from the Monash Freeway, one way would cost you $7.20. A return trip would land you $11.68 or $14.40 respectively, with the stop-start pain of peak hour on either the Eastern or Monash Freeways.

By contrast, a full day trip that covers zones 1 & 2 (most regions) will set you back a modest $7.52, without additional fuel, wear-and-tear and the overwhelming threat of being involved in the next accident (too often the result of impatience).

With Melbourne’s population growth projections expecting as much as 7.8 million people by 2051, we can’t expect each person to ride alone in our cars to work. No amount of roads could cope.

The people stuck in traffic are those who don’t have access to good public transport and those who need their cars for work. Reinforce the public transport system and most of the former will convert, leaving the roads for the latter.

And yet, here we are with a PM refusing to part with promise funds to the state. It’s a bitter revenge for rejecting his state counterparts and more toll roads that we don’t need or want.

Instead, he’s loose with cash for a political stunt that flies in the face of Victorian voters. He does so, of course, not to play state politics, but to try to get one state one side in the lead up to next year’s election. It’s negative rhetoric and what he does best.

A better person might acknowledge the will of the people and act accordingly.

We can only hope that this red herring is transparent to Victorian voters. We can hope that they show this PM, just as they did the former Premier, that they will not cave into 20th century thinking.

When you’re stuck in traffic, I hope it gives you enough time to reflect on who is truly to blame.

Given strong global leadership on it, there is even a potential for us to modify the atmospheric CO2 concentrations to counter long term climate trends that could impact us negatively. Through controlling what we burn or store, we would be able to influence our climate for our benefit.

I recognise that I might be getting carried away with this news. However, depending on how this story unfolds, it could be a genuine game changer.

I’m staggered to learn that, in my absence, the traffic has remained. For months on end.

That my efforts on here for the past four years continues to be of value is the very best compliment I could ask for.

I had a spike last week (three times my running daily average), with about a third of that traffic directed towards my fluoridation work. I honestly don’t get the controversy. Capital cities in most states and territories of Australia have had fluoridated water since the 1960’s or 70’s.

Compare such places to Brisbane (not fluoridated) for signs of the supposed adverse reactions of fluoridation and be astounded in the boredom… We don’t see the drop in IQ or increases in cancers or whatever boogeymen you wish to imagine. We do, however, see a reduction in cavities in fluoridated areas.

In reality, that should be the end of it. But that’s the problem with any anti-science movements.

The ABYSS

I’ve learnt a lot in the past year. Unfortunately, I’ve become a little more cynical as well. My writing, I was informed by a potential employer (which they came across in a standard background check), is a liability. This is especially so with the political writing – the only stuff that professional outlets seem to want from me (unpaid, of course). To a lesser extent, the same is true with my rebuttals to anti-science (apparently, I show up on climate denial and anti-vax websites), which sully my name in association.

Moreover, to take a quote I’ve used before; you shouldn’t debate with idiots. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

As such, I will no longer smash my writing efforts against the wall of cognitive dissonance required to hold on to any ideology, be it religious, political or anti-science. It’s sad that many find the unknown so daunting that they need to prop up idealistic models of reality at any cost rather than to trust solid evidence.

If I’m going to writing, it may as well be useful.

Still, I am back!

I have a new job (outside of environmental science) and I am getting close to regaining enough free time to spend on NewAnthro (the past year was spent in a very insecure role where all my free time went to family or, more often, relentless job searching).

NewAnthro will finally get back on track with what it was intended to do; provide an outlet for discussion concentrated on the overwhelming fact that we are now in the Anthropocene and thus a force of nature. What we do about yielding this influence must be targeted towards prosperous outcomes over degradation.

For my kids sake, I’m not interested in a low / no impact life, because that is honestly a pipe-dream suitable for Qi fanciers. The only answer is medium to high impact; like a farmer who increasing the production of a landscape, human activity must aspire to promote biodiversity, thus biological services, thus prosperity for all.

My own efforts will be shared, as a video journal as well as writing, as I try to achieve wins within my fence line. The Sustainable Cities Collective remains one of my favourite gems on the internet.

Right now, I’m working on a home-made, off-grid, weather station which will also water my garden (you can take me out of environmental science, but can’t take the field out of me!) and plan to develop videos along the way. I might share snippets and trial segments on the NewAnthro FB page. If you would like to provide feedback to these test runs, please follow.